Living in Chicago and NYC, she co-founded and led Empower Systems, an electronic medical record company for large hospital systems. She sold her interest in the company in 2009.

Since 2009, Ms. Aston has helped her former hospital system clients build art collections as investments and to improve the wellness of patients and visiting family members. She has worked in healthcare consulting as a Managing Director and several times as interim executive management (as a turnaround Chief Executive Officer) for healthcare technology companies nationally.

Ms. Aston has maintained relationships with her clients at the C-suite levels of hospitals, health insurance companies, as well as private equity and hedge funds that focus on healthcare.

Ms. Aston has lived internationally, most extensively in Paris and Tokyo, and has consistently represented artists and galleries. Her experience includes launching new artists, elevating established artists in new markets, and placing Blue Chip art with individuals and corporations.

She has also been very active with various museums, most recently as a member of the new Directors Circle at the Crow Museum. She also writes for her own blog, as well as for “the art of,” a Greenwich, CT art gallery-sponsored publication.

Most recently Ms. Aston has balanced her work as an executive in healthcare technology with her passion for and experience in contemporary art in Dallas.

Ms. Aston has a Masters from Northwestern University and a Bachelors from the University of Illinois. She is fluent in French.

Rusty has extensive healthcare technology, analytics, and business experience serving as an EVP and CTO of McKesson Corporation, President of the Technology & Automation of AmerisourceBergen, CIO & CTO of VHA, and Group Vice President of Data, Analytics, and Product Delivery for Vizient Inc. He has authored and edited HIMSS books on the impact of technology on health care and he holds over 15 US and International patents. In addition, Rusty has served in leadership positions in several successful VC-backed healthcare software companies.

Valinda Rutledge is the Executive Policy Advisor at Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) and the Chair of the PCCI Scientific Advisory Group. In these roles, she is responsible for assisting PCCI in the development of strategic initiatives that will advance PCCI’s mission and will align with emerging national and state policies.

She is also currently the Vice President, Public Payor Health Strategy in the Care Coordination Institute at Greenville Health System, SC. She is responsible for identifying, analyzing, and supporting the implementation of opportunities related to government initiatives such as Bundled payments, Medicare advantage, Medicaid pilots, Dual Eligible, PCMH, and ACOs.

Ms. Rutledge previously worked as a member of the leadership team (Senior Advisor and Group Director) at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation (CMMI) where she helped build the Innovation Center from its startup phase, and managed the design and launch of several of the Center’s models. In particular, she led the development and rollout of the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative, Strong Start, and other national programs related to care transformation.

Before joining CMS, Ms. Rutledge served as the Chief Executive Officer of CaroMont Health in Gastonia, North Carolina where she led the development of a 210-day bundled knee payment arrangement between CaroMont Health and North Carolina’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Ms. Rutledge received the 2013 Becker’s Healthcare Leadership Award, which is given to the top 30 individuals in the nation who demonstrate leadership and impact to the industry on a national level. She currently serves on several National Scientific Advisory Boards including NaviHealth and as a Subject Matter Expert for SG2 in payment transformation.

Ms. Rutledge holds two advanced degrees: Master of Business Administration degree from Butler University in Indianapolis and a Master of Science degree in nursing from Wayne State University in Detroit. She is frequently sought as a national speaker in the area of payment, clinical innovation, and population health.